Golar LNG Partners’ Q2 profit jumps

Nasdaq-listed Golar LNG Partners, a limited partnership formed by Golar LNG, reported a net income of $53.8 million the second quarter of 2017.

This compares to $28 million during the corresponding quarter of last year, the partnership said in its report.

Total operating revenues increased, from $101.4 million in the first quarter to $136.0 million in the second quarter, due to FSRU Golar Igloo being on hire for a full quarter following downtime during January and February.

In addition, the LNG carrier Golar Grand was taken out of layup and dry-docked, and the FSRU Golar Spirit received a one-off termination fee as a result of Petrobras opting to end the charter in June 2017 as opposed to the original end date of August 2018.

Golar Partners is also continuing to work on re-contracting opportunities for the LNG carriers Golar Mazo and Golar Maria. Chartering opportunities are improving as a function of the improvement in the LNG shipping market, the partnership said. The partnership’s fleet utilization was at 98 percent during the quarter.

Going forward, Golar Partners expects its operating earning for the third quarter to be negatively impacted by the loss of revenue from the Golar Spirit together with associated positioning and demobilization costs ahead of her temporary layup. The Golar Winter will also enter scheduled dry-dock at the end of September.

The partnership adds it has seen an increasing level of interest over recent months in an emerging market for mid-sized 1-2 mtpa FSRUs and due to ongoing discussions, it is confident that at least one of these two available FSRUs will be re-contracted in the coming months.

Few liquefaction projects have reached final investment decision over recent years and this has potential implications for the availability and pricing of post-2020 LNG and therefore demand for FSRUs.